My primary research interests concern the automatic and controlled processes by which expectations, including pessimism and optimism, influence social judgments and social interactions, and the processes by which people attempt to correct for such biases. Some questions examined in my lab include: How do expectations influence our judgments about other people? How and when might we try to correct for the resulting bias, and how successful are we? Which correction strategies are likely to be successful, and which are likely to backfire? Under what circumstances might we actually elicit behavior from other people that confirms our own pessimistic or optimistic expectations? My lab group is currently examining the roles of extremity, approach and avoidance goals, perspective-taking, and motivational variables in overcoming a variety of expectancy-related biases in social judgments and behaviors.

Primary Interests:

Causal Attribution

Interpersonal Processes

Motivation, Goal Setting

Person Perception

Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

Reich, D. A. (2004). What you expect isn't always what you get: The roles of extremity, optimism, and pessimism in the behavioral confirmation process. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 199-215.